


On Horsell Common

by EavingMal



Category: How to Train Your Dragon - Fandom, Rise of The Brave Tangled Dragons - Fandom, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Aliens, Fluff, M/M, Surprisingly Little Angst, Survival, War of the Worlds AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-22 11:07:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9605246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EavingMal/pseuds/EavingMal
Summary: Martians have landed in a little town in England, and the Big Four must hide and run to survive.





	1. The First Falling Star

**Author's Note:**

> OK, this is a fic by request of CatWithAChainsaw from the HiJack Discord chat. The request was (paraphrased): "War of the Worlds Au, with the Big Four plus Emma (and maybe Jamie). Not too dark or scary. Survival romance fluff."
> 
> Originally I intended this to be a one-shot, but then it got a little out of hand. Still, it should only be a few chapters. Expect them every few days.
> 
> Those who have read my previous stuff will not be at all surprised when I say that it took ... a surprisingly long time to come up with a non-angst and non-horror-themed story for this prompt. I hope that what I came up with fits the bill.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it, CatWithAChainsaw!

_“No-one would have believed, in the last years of the nineteenth century, that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own” – War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells._

 

“Look!” Emma cried, kneeling on the chair under the window to get a better angle from which to point at the sky.

Jack came to lean over his little sister, nearly resting his chin on her shoulder to look at where she was pointing.

“Falling star!”

She was correct. The light streaked across the sky, bright and white.

Jack smiled and ruffled her hair. “Make a wish, Em,” he said.

She closed her eyes.

“Now, bed,” Jack said.

“Jaaaaack,” Emma complained. “I came down to visit because you promised we could have _fun_!”

“We are!” Jack protested. “We’ve played games all day, you went and met the boy down the road …”

“You said you’d let me stay up late if I came to visit,” Emma said, in a huff somewhat betrayed by her expression, wavering as if she were having trouble not smiling.

“You’re already up late,” Jack said. “Come on, bed. We’re going somewhere fun in the morning.”

“Really? Where?” Emma asked, turning around and putting her hands upon her knees.

“It’s a surprise,” Jack said. “Now come on. Bed!”

“You aren’t playing a trick on me again, are you?” Emma said. “You used to tell me that to make me go to sleep when I was a kid.”

“Of course not,” Jack said. “You know I’d never use the same trick twice. Besides, didn’t I always take you somewhere?”

“You did,” Emma admitted. “But you never _planned_ to.”

“Well, I’m planning right now, alright? So go to bed.”

Emma sighed, and got off the chair. “Alright,” she said. “But only if you let me read for a while.”

Jack chuckled. “Alright, I’ll be in in a while.”

Emma hurried away to the bedroom.

Jack glanced up through the window, to see another star falling through the sky.

 

~

 

In the morning, Jack was making breakfast for Emma and trying to convince her that he had a plan when really he didn’t.

There was a knock on the door. Jack opened it to a woman, more red hair than person, with a huge grin.

“Mer!” Jack greeted her.

“You’re up early, Jack,” she said, voice thick with a Scottish accent. “Little Emma’s a good influence on you!”

“Shush,” Jack said. Merida had a ruddy colour to her cheeks that told him she’d already been out for exercise that morning.

“Everyone’s heading down to the Common,” Merida said.

Jack grinned. Well, that solved the problem of where he was going to take Emma this morning. “What’s at the Common?” he asked.

“They say something landed there last night,” Merida said. “A meteor or something.”

“Meteors are cool,” Jack said, then called over his shoulder, “Emma! Finish your breakfast, we’re leaving!”

“What!?” Emma called back, then there was the sound of cutlery clinking against plate rapidly as she rushed to finish eating.

She hurried over to the door a few minute later.

“Hi, squirt,” Merida said, bending down to greet Emma.

“Hi, Merida,” Emma said.

“Want to go see a meteor?” Merida asked.

Emma looked up at Jack. “A meteor?”

“They say it fell last night,” Merida said. “Right on the Common. Punzie’s already there – she went early with a cousin of mine. Come on, I’ll introduce you both.”

Emma clapped excitedly. “Let’s go!” she said.

 

~

 

By the time they all arrived at the Common, crowds had already gathered, so Jack took firm hold of Emma’s hand as they pushed through the crowds. In truth, Jack wasn’t very comfortable just pushing his way to the front, but Merida had dived right in, and it was all he could do to keep up with her. Occasionally she pushed so far ahead that he had to follow her by her voice – the thick Scottish “Scuse me” and “Don’t mind me, just  coming through”, echoed by his own much “I’m sorry,” “Can I just …” “I’m so sorry” as he dragged Emma with him, trying not to lose her in the crush of people.

“Heya,” Merida said to somebody, and then Jack heard the sound of her smacking somebody on the shoulder, even above the confused murmur of the crowd.

“Ow,” a voice Jack didn’t recognise complained, though it sounded like whoever it was wasn’t really paying attention.

“Punz,” Merida said.

“Hi, Mer,” Rapunzel replied. “Oh, hi Jack!”

Jack finally managed to push his way through to them, pulling Emma with him.

“Sure, Mer, just shove your way through, don’t mind us,” Jack grumbled.

Merida laughed. “Aw, did you want me to hold your wee hand too, Jackie?”

Jack poked his tongue out in the most mature fashion he could manage.

Merida had made her way nearly to the lip of the crater, where a huge black boulder-like object rested inside. The edges of the crater were blackened and charred, and the object was still steaming gently. She had joined Rapunzel and a young man around Jack’s age, with brown hair that stuck up at the back and a dark green sweater vest. He was crouched by the crater’s edge, biting one freckled lip, and writing in a notebook.

“Oh, you brought Emma!” Rapunzel exclaimed.

“Rapunzel!” Emma said, running over to the blonde-haired woman. “Jack, can we stay over with Rapunzel and Merida tonight? Is that OK, Rapunzel?”

Rapunzel beamed.

“You can do Jack’s hair again,” Merida said.

“Only if they do yours, too,” Jack said.

“I, for one, gladly accept this challenge,” Rapunzel said primly, then she and Emma giggled.

The young man taking notes had apparently not noticed a single thing that they were saying, still scratching away at the notebook page, watching the steam rising from the boulder at the bottom.

Merida nudged him with her foot. “Hic. Hey, Hic!”

‘Hic’ grunted, finished a sentence, and put the notebook away. He stood up and turned around.

“I came to take notes,” he grumbled, then he turned to Jack. “Well, I suppose I was about done anyway. Pleased to meet you. Merida won’t let you call me anything but Hiccup, so I guess that’s how I should introduce myself.” He held out a hand to Jack.

“Jack,” Jack said. “Really? Hiccup?”

Hiccup made a face. “Ever since I can remember, yes.”

Merida giggled. “His daddy used to get so mad at me for calling him that.”

“Apparently being called ‘Hiccup isn’t “manly”,” Hiccup made air quotes as he said the last word.

Jack looked Hiccup up and down – lanky limbs, pale, freckled skin, sweater vest and pencil tucked behind his ear. “Well,” he said.

Hiccup bent an arm, in a pose that would have shown off muscular arms, if his arms had been muscular. “What, you mean you aren’t awed by the sight of this much raw power contained within one man?”

Merida poked him in the side, causing him to flinch away.

Rapunzel laughed.

Jack grinned. Maybe he wasn’t awed by the sight of the lanky young man, but he could certainly stand to spend a little more time getting to know him.

And counting those freckles.

“So, what is it?” he asked Hiccup, so as not to look like he was staring awkwardly. Not that the others seemed to have noticed.

Hiccup’s expression immediately changed, becoming thoughtful and a little worried.

“I don’t know,” he said. “By all accounts, a meteor of this size hitting the Earth should have been … disastrous. But this landed just fine.”

“It’s a pretty big crater,” Rapunzel said.

“But it’s not a cloud of hot ash big and powerful enough to destroy the town and all other towns near it,” Hiccup pointed out.

There was a long, awkward silence.

“No,” Rapunzel said cautiously. “It … it’s not that.”

“Aw, don’t worry about Hic,” Merida said, punching Hiccup in the shoulder. “He’s always this gloomy.”

Hiccup opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, there was a loud _clunk_ from inside the crater, and then a pneumatic hiss.

The crowd surged forward as people tried to get a closer look at what was inside the crater. Jack kept a hand firmly on Emma’s shoulder as they leaned over the lip of the crater.

“Guys,” Hiccup said, but said nothing further and got no response. Everyone was too busy watching the boulder as a panel on the side split off and swung on an invisible hinge.

“It’s a hatch,” Hiccup breathed, and looked over at Merida.

Emma screamed as something snaked out of the hatch, thick and muscular like a snake, and then Hiccup was shoving everyone backwards into the crowd, shouting “Go! Move!”

Merida acted immediately, grabbing Rapunzel and Emma by the hands and starting to barge through the crowd. Jack just managed to grab hold of Emma in time, and Hiccup caught his hand, and together they followed Merida as she squirmed her way through the crowd.

They were just ahead of the curve, it seemed. Just behind them, the crowd was shrieking, surging away from the crater. Jack gripped Emma’s hand tighter, so as not to lose her in the crowd. Hiccup gripped his hand a bit tighter as they were buffeted by the crowds and he gripped back.

As they burst away from the edge of the crowd, Merida kept running, dragging them along at a pace that Jack noticed that both he and Rapunzel were barely able to keep up with. Hiccup stumbled and tugged on Jack’s arm. Emma cried out as Jack nearly fell as well, but Merida didn’t slow her pace, just turned back to check that they were all still upright and running with her.

Jack looked behind him to check on Hiccup. Hiccup gave him a breathless nod – yes, he was alright – but the sight that actually caught Jack’s attention was one that he enjoyed far less than looking at Hiccup. Behind them, towering over the people, something was emerging from the crater. It had long tentacles, three of them, and strode across the Green, following the largest clumps of people.

Jack somehow found it in his legs to speed up a little. Emma started to turn. Jack shouted, “No, Emma, keep looking forward! Don’t look back!”

But of course, as he should have expected, Emma looked back anyway – perhaps his warning had even encouraged her. He saw her eyes widen, and her breath catch. He pressed closer, pushing her forwards.

“Go, Emma, go!” he shouted.

Merida fumbled with the keys as they reached the door. It took only a moment, but it seemed to Jack to take hours. Then the door opened and they were all inside. Rapunzel slammed the door shut behind them and slid the bolt home.

Hiccup and Merida rushed around the house, closing blinds and turning off lights until they couldn’t be seen inside the house.

Jack and Rapunzel huddled with Emma in the living room, holding and calming her.

“What was it?” Emma asked.

“I don’t know,” Jack said.

“But we’re going to find out, right?” Rapunzel said brightly, giving Jack a Significant Look.

“Sure,” Jack said. “Someone’s going to go and look into it properly – someone with real equipment and expertise, and they’ll let us know what’s going on. But for now, we’ll just stay safe in here, OK?”

“I saw it,” Emma whispered. “It had … a gun or something. There was a red light, and I think someone died.”

Jack held her a little closer.

“Are you sure?” Rapunzel asked, not sounding as confident as Jack would have liked. “I mean, you only looked back for a second …”

Emma bit her lip, and shook her head. “I don’t … I don’t know,” she said.

Merida came back in to the room with a box, steaming and a little frosted over, fresh from the freezer.

“Here we go,” she said brightly. “Scared wee girls get ices.”

Emma peeped into the box and pulled a paper-wrapped green ice block out. She unwrapped it with trembling fingers.

Merida pulled out a bright red block herself, and shook the box for Rapunzel and Jack.

“Scared wee boys get ices, too,” she said to Jack with a cheerful grin.

“You heard her, Emma,” Jack said, nudging his sister as she sat in his lap. “Dress up like a monster sometime and chase me so I can get ices!” Jack took the plain white one, Rapunzel a red one like Merida’s.

Emma rolled her eyes, like she usually did, but then she sniffed and wiped her nose before putting the ice block into her mouth.

Hiccup came back into the room, carrying a portable radio, and turned it on, tuning it from station to station, listening for something. Merida offered him the

Absently, he took a green ice and unwrapped it, as the radio turned to a station with a deep man’s voice, speaking with the calm dispassion of a news presenter.

_Citizens are urged to evacuate the Horsell Common area. Citizens living in Ottershaw, Chobham, Bisley and Knaphill are advised to remain alert to the possibility of an evacuation. We will be receiving reports of the number of dead hopefully within the hour, at which time we will know …_

Jack shot a glare at Hiccup. Sheepishly, Hiccup turned off the radio, glancing at Emma.

“I’ll take it into the other room,” he said.

“No,” Merida said, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. “Didn’t you hear the radio? We’ve got to evacuate!”

Rapunzel looked at the window near the door, then put two fingers between the blinds and peeked out.

“We can’t,” she said.

Hiccup frowned. “What do you …”

Merida cut him off. “Alright.”

Emma looked between them. “But if they’re telling us to evacuate …” She looked at the blind.

“Let’s pick a board game from the cupboard,” Jack said suddenly.

“Get all of them. And the cards,” Merida said.

“I’ll get some food from the kitchen,” Rapunzel said, jumping up.

“Lights,” Hiccup said, and started hurrying out of the room.

Merida jerked her head towards the cupboard and hurried out to join the other three.

Jack heard the footsteps receding. Rapunzel didn’t open the fridge or pantry. They must be talking something through. He patted Emma on the shoulder to indicate that she should get up off the couch, and crossed the room to open up the games cupboard.

“I’m not stupid, Jack,” Emma said.

“I know,” Jack said.

“They’re outside, aren’t they?”

“Probably. I didn’t see.” Jack felt bad admitting it, but he just couldn’t lie to Emma.

He prepared himself for her reaction, but to his surprise – and not a small amount of pride – Emma just nodded slowly and took a deep breath.

“They can’t see us in here,” she said. “Right?”

“No, that’s right,” Jack said. “They can’t see us.”

“What about hear us?”

“They might, if they got close,” Jack said.

“But if we’re getting food …”

“I think Merida has a cellar,” Jack said. “So we’re going to wait in there.”

Emma walked to the games cupboard and took out a pack of cards. “These have to come,” she said. “You can play lots of games with just a pack of cards.”

“Take both,” Jack said, passing her the other pack. “I’ll teach you to play Canasta.”

“What’s Canasta?”

“You’ll see.” Jack grinned. “Trivial Pursuit, too. Oh, it’s a different edition to ours. They’ll have different questions, one you haven’t seen so often.”

“That’s good,” Emma said.

Rapunzel came out. “Merida wants to see if you can call your folks, since Emma’s here,” she said. “Emma, let’s you and I put these games into a bag. Jack will call you if he gets through.”

“Alright,” Jack said.

The deception was fairly obvious, but Emma didn’t seem to spot it – she just started to pull the big Monopoly box out of the cupboard.

Jack raced into the hall, where Merida was standing with the phone on the wall, and Hiccup lights, including three old-fashioned storm lantern with a dirty lamp oil tin, and a few packs of candles with two or three boxes of matches.

“Think we’ll need all of those?” Jack joked, but nobody laughed.

Merida gestured to the phone. “Try it,” she said.

“I thought I was in here to hear a plan,” Jack said.

“You are. But Rapunzel isn’t wrong. You ought to try your mam and pap.”

“I don’t have the phone number with me for Mom’s hotel,” Jack said. “It’s still on the kitchen bench at my house.”

But he picked up the handset and dialled his father’s number.

No answer.

He let it ring until he got the answering machine, then said, “Dad, it’s me, Jack. Emma is here with me. We’re both fine, but we can’t evacuate safely right now. I don’t have Mom’s number with me, so can you call her and tell her we’re OK? I’m going to try and call back later. Alright. Bye.”

He hung up.

Hiccup patted him on the shoulder awkwardly. “I’m sure he’ll get the message,” he said.

“Right,” Merida said. “We need to get to the cellar, but the door’s outside. It’s not too far from the back porch, but we’re going to need to make a run for it.”

Jack shivered. Hiccup was scratching the back of his head nervously, and Jack noticed that he had three little braids in the back of his hair, near the nape of his neck. Jack tore his attention back to Merida. This was not the time to be noticing Hiccup’s hairstyle.

“So,” Hiccup said, apparently having not paid attention to Jack’s wandering eyes, “Rapunzel and I are going out first. Rapunzel will open the door and I’ll keep an eye on things. You and Merida and Emma will have to carry everything out and get inside. Then Rapunzel will call me and we’ll all get into the cellar.”

Jack nodded.

“Rapunzel said that the … things … weren’t too close,” Merida said. “So if we go soon, we can get into the cellar before they come.”

“Alright,” Jack said. “I’ll get Emma.”

“Food bags are in the kitchen,” Merida said. “I’ll grab some essentials from the bathroom.”

Jack nodded. “Meet you at the back door,” he said.

He collected the bags from the kitchen. Hiccup followed him into the kitchen, pulling a bag out of a drawer and dumping all the lights inside.

“Hey,” he said.

“Yeah?” Jack asked, busy trying to shuffle the bags around for easiest carrying.

“That’s your little sister, isn’t it?” Hiccup asked.

“Yeah, Emma,” Jack said.

Hiccup was silent for a moment, then said, “She’s going to be OK. We’re all going to be OK.”

Jack bit his lip. “Of course,” he said. “We’ll get into the cellar and everything will be fine, right?” He gave Hiccup his most cheerful smile, but Hiccup didn’t seem to be convinced.

There was a long, awkward silence. Jack picked up the bags and nudged Hiccup’s arm. “Merida was right. You are a gloomy one. Listen, if we have a few days in the cellar it might give you time to actually beat Merida at Snap.”

“Nobody beats Merida at Snap,” Hiccup said. “There is no beating Merida at Snap. There is only bruises and regret.”

Jack grinned. “That’s the spirit. Now give me that bag, and head to the back door.”

 

~

 

“Ready?” Jack asked Emma. The cupboard was more than half empty, and the bag bulging with boxes. Rapunzel lifted it with a little difficulty to put it on Emma’s back. Emma tightened the straps, though the bag was comically oversized on her.

“Yes,” Emma said.

“Alright,” Jack said. “Now, we need to go outside for a bit.”

Emma nodded seriously.

“So just keep hold of my hand, and we’ll get into the cellar quickly, and we’ll be OK. Alright?”

Emma nodded again.

“Come on, then,” Jack said. “The cellar’s near the back door.”

By the time they got there, Merida and Hiccup were already at the door. Merida held a couple of bags, one had the lights in it, the other, Jack suspected, held whatever she’d called ‘essentials’.

Hiccup rested his hands on the door, and looked at Rapunzel. “Ready?” he asked.

“Ready,” Rapunzel said with a nod.

Hiccup shoved the door open just a crack, and looked around. Then, he shoved the door open the whole way, and dashed out. Merida held it open.

“Jack,” Emma whispered, gripping Jack’s hand so tight that the tips of his fingers were starting to go numb. “I’m scared.”

“It’s OK,” Jack said. “It’s OK. We’re going to make it fun.”

“How?”

“Well …” Jack cast about for an answer. “We’re going to play a game of hide and seek, alright? The it person is getting too close, so we’re going to have to make a run to a new hiding spot. Right?”

Emma nodded. “Alright,” she said.

Hiccup signalled, and then Rapunzel dashed out after him turning around the corner to get to the cellar door.

“Ready?” Jack asked, grinning his widest grin at Emma.

Emma took a breath, nodded, then grinned back, cheerful as if she really were playing hide and seek.

“Ready,” she said.

“Go!” Merida said, shoving them both out the door ahead of her.

They sprinted for the cellar door.’

Jack didn’t let himself look out over the town as he pulled Emma towards the cellar door. Rapunzel had it open for them. She and Jack helped Emma over the lip and onto the ladder leading down, then Merida followed behind.

“Let me drop some of these bags to you,” Jack said, and Merida nodded.

Jack nearly breathed a sigh of relief as the bags dropped off his arms and Merida caught them, dropping them onto the floor.

Jack gestured for Rapunzel to go first, and turned to try and call back to Hiccup, to tell him to head over, before he was seen.

But then his throat went dry. The creatures, walking slowly on three tentacles, were pacing the edge of the Commons, the tops of their bodies just visible above the houses, except for a couple that could be seen through the streets, pacing back and forth along the houses.

Hiccup checked over his shoulder and Jack was glad, since he couldn’t have called out to Hiccup even if he wanted to. He waved his arm over his head, beckoning Hiccup over to them. Hiccup nodded and started sprinting.

As Jack watched Hiccup get closer, he saw a flash of red behind the houses, and deliberately didn’t think of what that might mean.

Then Hiccup was standing next to him. Hiccup glanced over his shoulder, and frowned at Jack. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

Jack shook his head. “Nothing,” he muttered, and started down the ladder, Hiccup following just above him, locking the door on the way in. The cellar was immediately plunged into darkness, and Jack gasped, even though he’d been expecting it. He heard at least two of the three girls below do the same. He felt for the ladder rungs with each step, trying to keep up a good pace so that Hiccup didn’t step on his hands as he descended.

Below them, Merida flicked on one of the flashlights and shone it at them so they could climb down.

Jack and Hiccup made it to the bottom of the ladder and dropped onto the floor.

Merida hung the storm lantern on a hook on the other side of the room, and started rifling through one of the bags.

The cellar still held a few wine racks in the back, emptied when Merida’s parents had moved away, but mostly the wine racks had been taken, and the cellar held a couple of couches and cushions, plus a few old, slightly worse-for-wear mattresses leaning against the wall. There were boxes in the corner, and a pile of old, broken furniture. Merida had been using it as a storage room, it seemed.

Merida pulled out the packs of cards and a Yahtzee box, and put them on the floor.

 “How about a game?” she asked.

“How about some sandwiches?” Rapunzel suggested. “I’ll make us some lunch while you set up the game.”

Jack sat down with Emma, and said, “Let’s start with Yahtzee. I’ll teach you Canasta after we’ve had something to eat.”

“Oo, Canasta,” Merida said. “My mam used to love that game. I never learned though.”

“I’m not surprised,” Jack said. “Did you ever have the patience for it?”

“Oh hush,” Merida said, and threw one of the couch cushions at Jack, who started to laugh, but stopped as the noise echoed in the small room.

There was silence for a moment, but then Rapunzel said, “What does everyone want on their sandwiches?”

Jack was glad for the distraction as people chorused their choices and Rapunzel started to slice cucumber.

Hiccup sat down and started to look through the games in the bag.

“See anything you like?” Jack asked, as he started to pull paper and pencils out for scorecards for the Yahtzee game.

“Eh,” Hiccup said, putting the bag down. “I’m more a card games person myself.”

“So, if you don’t challenge Merida to a game of Snap,” Jack said, setting the five dice on the table, “What’s the game we should never challenge you to?”

Hiccup thought for a moment, then said, “Brag.”

Jack laughed. “I guess I’ll have to see that for myself, then.”

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Consider yourself challenged,” Jack said.

Hiccup laughed. “Bold words. Well, alright, I’ll show you the error of your ways after this game of Yahtzee.”

“What’s Brag?” asked Emma. “Can you teach me the rules?”

Merida laughed. “Sure, but I don’t think you want to get between them when they play a game,” she said.

“What?” Jack said. “You think we won’t play nice?”

“You will. Hiccup?” Merida shook her head. “Hard to tell.”

 Jack looked back at Hiccup, who was still grinning, though he was rolling his eyes at Merida. Rapunzel giggled over the sandwiches.

Jack tossed a pad to Hiccup and was about to toss over a pencil, but Hiccup pulled the one he’d had since the morning out from behind his ear. “I’ve brought my own,” he said.

Jack nodded, and didn’t pass the pencil over. Instead, he gave it to Emma.

“Sandwiches are done!” Rapunzel announced, bringing them over on plates, two apiece.

Jack couldn’t help watching the way that Hiccup turned the sandwich around in his hands, deciding the best side to attack first. He allowed himself a little time to stare. After all, they were safe now. What harm was a little staring?

 

~

 

They played Yahtzee, and then Jack taught Emma Canasta, just like he’d promised. It took them a few rounds for Emma to get the hang of it, and then a few more rounds for Rapunzel to play ‘best two out of three’ with Hiccup – which escalated from best two out of three to best three out of five to best four out of seven until she was satisfied – and then it was time for dinner. They ate cold food out of cans, but they managed to joke their way through it somehow.

Outside, the noise of giant, three-legged footsteps echoed, sometimes closer, sometimes further away. Sometimes it was hard to tell how close they were – they could have been a few streets away, or they could have been right above the house – but never did they disturb the cellar where the five of them hid.

Nevertheless, whenever the sounds got a little closer, the games got a little quieter, the banter drying up – confident challenges turned into quiet “let’s just deal another hand”s.

After they’d played so many hands of Canasta that it had turned into nearly an entirely different game (Merida seemed to have an ‘OK, but next game we have to’ for every situation), Jack made sandwiches and they had dinner.

Though Emma didn’t complain when the lights were turned out for the night, Jack could tell that she didn’t go to sleep for a long time. Her breathing didn’t slow or deepen, and it took a long time for her to develop that slight snore through her nose that Jack always listened for.

When she finally did start to snore, he took a deep breath of relief, and tried to settle down a little more into his squashy mattress.

“Can’t sleep either?” a voice said quietly from across the room, and Jack jumped, startled.

“Heh, sorry,” Hiccup said again, pushing himself up on his elbow. “I can’t sleep, either.”

“I was just,” Jack said, waving his hand at Emma. He realised that Hiccup couldn’t see his gesture in the darkness, but he couldn’t think of any other way to finish that sentence.

“Making sure Emma got to sleep,” Hiccup finished for him.

“Yeah,” Jack admitted.

“Why do you sound so guilty?” Hiccup asked. He sounded genuinely curious, not accusatory or mocking at all.

“I guess … it seems a bit silly sometimes,” Jack said. “Sometimes I worry that I worry too much.”

Hiccup snorted.

“What?” Jack snapped, though the effect was lost in the fact that they were whispering.

“Sorry. Just … worrying that you worry too much?”

“Sounds pretty useless doesn’t it?”

“It is. But I know the feeling.”

There was a pause for a moment, then Hiccup said, “In a situation like this, is there really any such thing as worrying too much?”

“Guess not,” Jack said.

“I think it’s really sweet,” Hiccup said.

Jack put a hand to his chest. There should be a law. Men who looked as good as Hiccup should not be allowed to pay compliments like that.

“Now get some sleep, mama bear,” Hiccup said, and dammit, Jack could hear him grinning.

“Wait, what about you?” Jack whispered.

“Huh?”

“Why can’t you sleep?”

Hiccup hesitated, then said, “Just having trouble, I guess.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“We’d better get some sleep. Who knows how many games we’ll need to play tomorrow.”

“I always have energy for games,” Jack said.

“Lucky you,” Hiccup said.

“Get some sleep, then,” Jack said. “Night.”

“Night.”


	2. What We Saw from the Ruined House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly half the fun of writing this is going through my copy of War of the Worlds for fun title references.  
> Somehow this ended up a little more on the horror side of things than I intended. I'm sorry - hopefully it's not overly so.

In the morning, breakfast came out of tins. Jack and Rapunzel chatted the whole way through, while Merida entertained Emma with stories about the woodland rides she’d used to take all the time with her parents. Hiccup woke slowly and reluctantly, and though he laughed at Merida’s dramatics, he didn’t do much beyond that until he’d already had breakfast.

“Only person I’ve ever known who was worse at mornings than you,” Merida said, nudging Jack as she went to throw her can into the bag that they had designated the bin for the time being.

“I’m not bad at mornings,” Jack protested. “I just have a long-distance relationship with them.”

“You’re awfully bright this morning,” Emma observed.

Jack stifled a yawn, which had sprung into his throat at the very mention of possibly being tired. “Not particularly,” he said.

“He’s your brother,” Rapunzel told Emma, laughing. “I’d have thought you’d have realised that if Jack is awake, he’s cheerful.”

Emma giggled. “I went in to wake him up for school once. He had this big dopey grin over his face. So sometimes he’s cheerful when he’s asleep, too!”

“Em, do you really have to tell everyone that story?” Jack asked. Hiccup was grinning. Ugh.

“Of course,” Emma said, with a toss of her hair. “I’m your sister.”

They laughed, but when it died out, silence fell.

For a long time, none of them said, anything, then Hiccup cocked his head and said, “Does it seem silent to anyone else?”

There was a moment while they all looked and listened. He was right. There was no sound to be heard – none of the tramping of giant footsteps from before, none of the sudden whine of laser blasts.

“I’ll go look,” Merida said. Rapunzel stopped shuffling cards, but Hiccup began to fiddle with the discarded Yahtzee dice. The soft clack of the dice was drowned out by Merida’s footsteps on the ladder, then the soft movement of wood against wood as she lifted the cellar door.

She came down the stairs again, shaking her head. “Nae good. They’re still walking the streets.”

Jack nodded. “Well, we’ve got food, right? Ices?”

Merida laughed. “If we’d had ices, they’d’a all melted by now. But you can go back and get some if you want.”

Jack pretended to consider it, and Emma elbowed him. She didn’t quite manage to formulate a witty retort, though.

Merida sat down and nodded to Rapunzel. “Your turn to deal?”

Rapunzel nodded and started to throw cards onto the table. The cards made barely any sound, even in the silent room. Jack was impressed – she’d been dealing most of the cards in the last day or so. Her fingers were already delicate, but now the only sound was the soft noise as the cards hit the floor.

_BANG, BANG, BANG_

Jack dropped his cards, and Hiccup dropped the dice with a clatter. Merida swore and Emma screamed, grabbing Jack’s arm. Rapunzel let out half a squeak before she clapped her hands to her mouth to stifle it.

_BANG, BANG, BANG_

Hiccup put a finger to his lips, and started to move over to the cellar door.

“What do you think you’re doing, you big …” Merida hissed, but Hiccup waved his hand at her, interrupting.

“The creatures from the Common would break it down,” he hissed back.

_BANG, BANG, BANG_

Merida started to protest, but Hiccup was already most of the way up to the door, starting to lift it slowly.

“Ow, Jack,” Emma complained, and Jack looked down in surprise, realising just how hard he’d been gripping his sister’s arm.

“Sorry,” he whispered, and released his grip a little bit, though it was hard to make his knuckles loosen enough. He pulled his shoulders downwards, forcing them to relax.

Hiccup poked his head up, and then opened the cellar door all the way, swinging to one side to let someone come down past him.

A pair of small boots appeared over the ledge, then short legs, and then Hiccup shut the cellar door after a boy about Emma’s age as he climbed down the ladder.

“Jamie!” Jack said in surprise, and Jamie gasped as he turned around and saw Jack.

Jamie ran over and threw himself at Jack and Emma, and Jack held them both close for a moment. Rapunzel scooted around the circle and put her hand on Jamie’s shoulder, patting it. Merida and Hiccup sat together opposite them.

Jamie sniffed. Emma hugged him a little closer. “It’s OK,” she said.

“What happened?” Merida asked after a moment.

Rapunzel shot her a Look, but Jamie rubbed his eyes and sat back.

“There was a bus,” he said. “It was so full, we were sitting on the roof. And when it started to move, it moved so slowly, some old man started yelling that we had too many people and we couldn’t get away, so he started shoving.”

Jack held Jamie a little closer.

“I saw Mum tried to jump off after me,” Jamie said, “But there was someone holding her and Dad back, and they just drove away.”

“What an awful –” Rapunzel started, but Hiccup nudged her and she stopped.

“Where was the bus leaving from?”

Jamie gestured away from the Common. “The … the aliens haven’t come this far through the town yet. I tried your house, Jack, but there was nobody home, so I just started knocking on doors. I knocked on the house door, and I nearly didn’t see the cellar door, until I tried to go around to the side, just in case.”

“Aliens?” Rapunzel asked.

“That’s what they’re calling them on the radio,” Hiccup said.

“Radio?” Merida asked. “What do you mean, the radio?”

Hiccup shrugged, and pointed to it in the corner of the room. “I stayed up late, listened for a while after everyone was asleep.”

So that’s why Hiccup had still been awake. Jack wondered why he hadn’t just said, last night, that he was staying up to listen to the radio.

“Well, you found us,” Jack said to Jamie, changing the topic. “We’re going to get safe, and then we’re going to find your parents, OK?”

Jamie nodded.

Jack patted him on the back. “You just stay with us, OK? We’ll look after you.”

“Hey,” Jamie said, sniffing away the last of his tears. “Is that … is that Cluedo?”

“Sure is,” Jack said. “Who’s up for Cluedo?”

Merida and Hiccup shared a smile.

“What?” Jack asked, looking between them. “What’s so funny?”

Hiccup shook his head. “Nothing.”

“No, really,” Jack said. “What?”

Merida laughed. “You see him taking all those notes yesterday? Do you want to play Cluedo against him?”

“Oh, come on,” Jack said, puffing out his skinny chest. “Your notes are no match for my raw intuition.”

Hiccup snorted. “Is that a challenge.”

“Sure,” Jack said. “Why not?”

Emma made sure Jamie was looking, then rolled her eyes. Jamie covered his mouth to stifle a chuckle.

Jack grinned and brandished a pen and notepad at Hiccup.

“Give me … Mrs Peacock!” he declared.

“Suits you,” Hiccup said, making Merida snort. “I’ll have …”

“You should take Colonel Mustard,” Jack suggested. “Suits your personality.”

“Excuse you,” Hiccup said. “I will take Reverend Green, as befits a man of my stature.”

“Well give me Mustard, then,” Rapunzel said.

“Dibs on Miss Scarlett!” Merida called, a little too loud. There was a hush as they all listened for the footsteps that might be following them.

“Miss White,” Emma declared quietly, breaking the silence and reaching for the white piece.

“I guess that leaves me with Professor Plum,” Jamie said.

“Pieces on the board, friends,” Jack said, grinning at Hiccup.

Hiccup grinned back as he put his piece down. “Let’s go,” he said.

Jack snuck a glance to the side to check on Emma – who was already making some notes on the back of a page – and Jamie, who was smiling as he searched through the notebook for a blank page, and then turned his attention back to the game.

When he looked up, Hiccup was looking at him, with a small smile on his face. Jack quickly looked down at the his notebook and the board again, pretending to search for the dice.

_I think it’s really sweet_ , Hiccup’s voice said in his head, and he passed the dice to Jamie. “You go first,” Jack said, to clear the memory out of his mind.

 

~

 

“You’re a crafty bastard and I don’t know how, but somehow, you cheated,” Jack told Hiccup after the third game of Cluedo.

“Told you,” Merida said smugly. “I’m going to make us something to eat. Cans OK?”

“Cans sound great,” Rapunzel said.

Jack looked to Emma to make light of her wrinkled nose, or her stuck-out tongue, but to his surprise, neither of those things were true. She looked up at Jack and said, “If you get beans, and I get corn, we could go halves and mix them?”

“Sounds good,” Jack said, barely looking up in time to catch the cans Merida tossed at them.

“Mixed?” Jamie asked, looking at Emma with nose wrinkled in disgust.

Jack chuckled. “Well, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, kiddo.”

Jamie shook his head. “No, thanks. Just beans for me, please, Merida.”

“Beans coming up.”

There was a _whiff_ and a _thunk_ as she tossed over the beans, and then Rapunzel said, “Good catch.”

Jack gave up his bed for Jamie, and Emma shared with Rapunzel. Once again, Jack stayed up to make sure that the kids were asleep. Emma didn’t stay up long that night; Jamie took longer.

This time, though, Jack stayed up long enough to hear Hiccup sigh, slip out of bed and turn on the radio.

He got up, too, and shivering a little when his feet met the cold stone, tiptoed over to where Hiccup sat, leaning close to the radio to hear the quiet voice.

_Confirmed Alien presence on Horsell Common. The area has been evacuated, but the evacuation notice has been extended to the surrounding areas, including …_

Hiccup looked over at Jack. “You should be asleep,” he said, only just loudly enough to be heard over the announcer.

Jack shrugged. “Guess I was curious,” he said.

“Go back to bed,” Hiccup told him. “You’ve got a busy day of games tomorrow.”

“I told you,” Jack said. “I always have energy for games.”

_Science teams will be entering the area as soon as it has been declared safe. In the meantime, the areas around Horsell Common are to expect a military presence_ …

“I mean it,” Hiccup said.

“Let’s just say I’d feel a bit better if I listened to the radio for a bit,” Jack said.

Hiccup shrugged. “Well, lean closer. We don’t want to wake the others.

Jack hesitated for a moment, then leaned a little further in to the radio. Hiccup was so close he could feel the radiant heat from Hiccup’s shoulder, nearly hear Hiccup breathe as the radio talked softly.

_…further updates as they come. For now, thoughts go out to the families of those not yet reported found from Horsell Common areas. And now, we interrupt briefly for an update on …_

Jack and Hiccup listened to the radio together, through the announcements until the next update on the aliens on Horsell Common. It was much the same information – evacuation notices, confirmed aliens, but no further details until science teams with military escorts were dispatched.

Jack tried to ignore his drooping eyelids. He wanted to stay up just a little longer, spend just a little longer this close to Hiccup, so close he could feel Hiccup’s heat, but not quite touch him. It was maddening, but Jack couldn’t quite bring himself to pull away.

_…Satellite imagery showing an odd ground covering. People still in the area urged to stay away from it until the source is determined. Should you notice odd plants or mosses in your area, no matter where you are, you are urged to report them to …_

Hiccup, after a moment, said, “Really, you should go to sleep.”

“I’m fine,” Jack mumbled.

Hiccup nudged him with his shoulder, nearly making Jack fall over. “I’m serious,” he said.

“Just a little longer,” Jack said. “I want to know …”

Hiccup interrupted him. “Listen, you need to be awake tomorrow. Just get some sleep, OK?”

Jack shrugged.

“Listen,” Hiccup said. “I’ve seen you and those kids. You get some sleep so you can be cheery old Jack in the morning.”

“I’m always cheery old Jack,” Jack protested.

“We’ll be a team,” Hiccup said. “You take care of the kids, and I’ll keep watch on the radio, OK?”

Jack hesitated. That … wasn’t really why he wanted to stay up.

Hiccup put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Team, OK?” he said.

Jack nodded. “Team,” he said, putting his hand on Hiccup’s shoulder. Hiccup gave him an encouraging smile, and Jack couldn’t help returning it. Their gaze met for just a moment longer than was comfortable before Jack looked away and coughed.

“Alright, you win. I’ll sleep,” he said.

“Good,” Hiccup said.

Jack went to sleep to the sound of the soft voice of the Radio. Hiccup didn’t make a sound.

 

~

 

Sometime in the morning, Jamie started to screech. Before he was fully awake, Jack was upright, with both Jamie and Emma in his arms, pulling them back towards the bags of cans.

“What kind of racket …” Merida groaned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Rapunzel was up, wide eyed, standing in a tangle of her sleeping bag.

Hiccup walked over the wall and crouched down next to something.

“What is _that_?” Jamie asked, pointing.

Jack let Emma’s arm go and rubbed his face. “Ugh. What’s going on?”

“Ground covering,” Hiccup said. Between two of the wooden boards, a red root was worming its way into the cellar.

Hiccup poked the root with the end of his pencil.

“Don’t touch it,” Rapunzel cautioned. “Who knows what that stuff is?”

“I need to go look at something,” Hiccup said, and started towards the ladder.

“Hiccup, what are you –” Rapunzel started, but Merida patted her on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Punz,” Merida said. “They’re a ways off. Listen.”

The only sound for a moment was Hiccup’s shoes on the ladder, and the distant _tramp-tramp_ of alien footsteps far away from the house.

The cellar door opened, and half of Hiccup disappeared out of the room.

Jack turned around and started rummaging in the food bags.

“If we’re going to be energetic this early in the morning,” he said, “I need a sandwich. Who else wants breakfast?”

“Me,” Merida said immediately.

“Yes, please,” Rapunzel said.

“Right, I’ve got …”

“No time!” Hiccup said, jumping down the ladder in one go. “We have to go.”

He sprinted across the room and started grabbing up the bags.

“Hiccup!” Rapunzel protested.

“No time,” Hiccup said again.

Jack started pulling Emma and Jamie towards the ladder. “Alright, let’s go,” he said.

“One of you want to explain?” Merida grumbled, as she grabbed one of the food bags off Hiccup and started towards the ladder herself.

Hiccup didn’t explain, and Jack didn’t know exactly what was going on, except that it had something to do with the odd ground covering they talked about on the radio. He herded Emma up the ladder.

“Well?” Merida asked, climbing up behind Jamie.

But when they got to the top of the ladder, Jack didn’t need to explain what was going on.

The entire town was covered with a creeping red moss, up walls and over roofs and all through the streets and gardens, choking flowers and hedges.

“What …?” Rapunzel asked.

“The radio said to stay away from it,” Hiccup said. “We have to try and leave – the cellar won’t keep it out.”

“But the aliens,” Jamie said.

“They’re far away for now,” Hiccup said. “So we have to leave before they get any closer.”

“That way’s clear,” Rapunzel said, pointing down a street away from the common.

“Just try and stay quiet, OK?” Jack said to Emma and Jamie. “Like hide and seek, right?”

Emma nodded. After a moment, Jamie took Jack’s hand and nodded as well.

They set off down the street like that – Jack between Emma and Jamie, Rapunzel holding Emma’s other hand and Hiccup holding Jamie’s. Merida walked just a little bit behind them. They didn’t speak, save to give instructions like “Turn left,” and “Nobody on the right.”

“Coming this way,” Merida said from behind Jack, and he felt both Emma and Jamie squeeze his hands tighter. Merida continued, speaking slowly and calmly and without excitement.

“I don’t think it’s seen us. Let’s keep close to the buildings.”

They scooted over to the side of the street, close to the fences and the hedges. Behind them, the thump of footsteps got closer and closer, but they didn’t dare move any faster. It was advancing steadily, and it could well have just been moving to a goal it already had in mind, not chasing them.

“It’s OK,” Jack whispered, though he couldn’t for the life of him make his voice loud enough for anyone to really hear him.

“Just like we’re playing hide and seek, right, Jack?” Emma said, and gave him a small smile.”

“That’s right,” Jack said. “Just like we’re playing hide and seek. Quick and quiet.”

“This way,” Hiccup said, pushing Jamie to the left. “Under that roof.”

It felt a little odd just opening the fence and walking through someone else’s garden, under their roof, but Jack had to admit that having the awning between them and the alien was a great comfort.

Rapunzel reached the edge of the roof overhang first, then pushed Merida back behind her, pulling Emma close to the wall.

Immediately, Jack and Jamie flattened themselves against the wall, and Jack heard the tiny _thump_ as Hiccup pressed himself flat against the wall, too.

Around the corner of the roof, Jack watched as the huge limbs, prehensile like octopus tentacles, circled and segmented like an earthworm, passed by them. Its strides were long and unhurried, and it seemed to take the better part of an eternity for the alien to walk past them.

Once its footsteps had started to fad, Merida nudged Rapunzel and Emma.

“Go, go, go!”

Sucking in a breath, Jack followed his little sister out from the roof.

Behind them, the alien was approaching closer and closer.

“Next roof is over there,” Jack said, pointing to the nearest house in their path with a protruding roof.

“Aw, scared wee laddie,” Merida said, chuckling.

“There’s a lot of open space that way,” Rapunzel said doubtfully.

“But afterwards, there’s a lot more covered space,” Jack pointed out.

“It’s on our way anyway, let’s just go,” Hiccup hissed, walking just a little faster and pulling Jamie with him. Jack had to pick up the pace in order to keep up.

“It’s turning!” Rapunzel said, and the six of them started to sprint towards the house. No time now for silence.

With a haunting _VMMMMM_ noise, the road between them started to split in two, carved open by a bright red laser.

Jack pushed Emma towards Rapunzel, out of its path, and then Hiccup was pulling him, via Jamie, towards the other side of the street.

“Train station!” Merida shouted.

“Got it!” Jack shouted back, and Rapunzel and Merida were running down another street, taking Emma with them.

The alien seemed to pause for a moment, considering, but then it turned and pursued Jack and Hiccup. Jack just had time to feel a swell of relief that Emma was out of danger for now, before it was replaced by terror as he and Hiccup pulled Jamie along behind them.

Hiccup pulled them on a sharp right turn around a corner. Jamie stumbled. His breathing was coming heavy and ragged. Jack bent down. “On,” he ordered.

Jamie jumped onto Jack’s back, and Jack was off running before he’d even settled into place.

Jamie gripped Jack’s shoulders and waist so tight that Jack could spare a hand to grab for Hiccup’s instead of using it to keep Jamie in place on his back.

“Hiccup!”

Hiccup glanced over his shoulder and grabbed Jack’s hand. It was an awkward connection – Jack’s right hand to Hiccup’s right, pulling across Jack’s body, but there was no time to fix it now, and Jack didn’t want to let go and risk losing Hiccup.

Behind them, the horrific _VMMMMM_ sounded again, and to their left, a house lost its roof and two of its walls, the rest of the structure crumbling in after it. Hiccup lunged away from it, dragging Jack and Jamie with him, underneath a roof. He threw himself against the door once, then again, grunting as his feet left the ground and his whole weight crashed against the door.

The wood splintered from around the lock, and they were in. Hiccup sprinted through the house, Jack only just managing to follow behind him.

The roof began to collapse in on them, and they dived into the bathroom. Jack shoved Jamie into the cupboard under the sink – which the family had left empty when they moved, and he and Hiccup dived into the bathtub together. Hiccup pulled the shower curtain rails down over them, so the two long poles crossed the bathtub. Pieces of wood and plaster started to rain down onto the curtains.

“Jamie?” Jack called, raising himself a little bit with an arm across Hiccup’s chest.

“Still OK,” Jamie called, though muffled.

Jack heard the laser pass through the bathroom, saw the red glow through the curtains and felt the heat move across them.

Wood and plaster crashed down on them, but Hiccup’s curtain poles held against the worst of it.

“Jamie!” Jack shouted, but he got no response. It could, Jack’s rational mind informed him, have been because debris was still falling and Jamie couldn’t hear him, or because Jamie was too scared to speak, but the part of his mind that was injecting the rest of him with pure, unadulterated terror, went to climb out of the bathtub to see what was going on.

“Oof,” Hiccup said, as Jack elbowed him in the stomach. He grabbed for Jack’s shoulders and pulled him back down.

“What are you doing?”

“Need to get to Jamie,” Jack said, trying to pull free.

“And tip half the roof in here with us? Lie down!”

“But –”

“Jack? Hiccup?”

Jack let out a shaky breath and collapsed back down onto Hiccup.

“We’re OK, kiddo! How about you?”

“I’m fine. The door’s broken, though.”

“That’s fine. It won’t look through the –”

Another _VMMMMMMM_ and more debris hit the shower curtain. As the noise of the debris stopped, Jamie called out, “I’m still OK.”

“We’re fine!” Hiccup called back. “Just stay there a little longer, OK?”

“OK.”

There were a few more moments of silence, then the _thmp thmp thmp_ sound of retreating footsteps.

Jack let out another long breath, and then froze as he realised that he’d grabbed Hiccup and was holding so tight his hands were shaking. It took another moment for him to realise that Hiccup had wrapped his arms around Jack and was holding him just as close.

Just then, Hiccup seemed to come to the same realisation, because he quickly let go of Jack.

“Sorry,” Jack said, loosening his grip. It was tricky – his knuckles felt as stiff as if they’d been frozen into place.

“Don’t tell Merida,” Hiccup said. “I don’t mind admitting to you I was scared, but I’d never hear the end of it from her.”

“Likewise,” Jack said. “Come on, we need to get to the train station.”

Hiccup nodded. “Alright.”

The two of them looked up at the shower curtains for a moment.

“Excuse me,” Hiccup said, and wrapped an arm around Jack, moving him aside so that Hiccup could reach the end of the shower poles on the far side of the bathtub.

“If we lift from here,” Hiccup said, “Most of the debris will fall onto the floor and we can get out.”

“Sure?” Jack asked.

“As sure as I’m going to be,” Hiccup replied.

Jack shrugged, and scooted up beside Hiccup to help push.

It was difficult, but once they’d lifted up the poles a few centimetres, something on top shifted, and the weight lightened, and suddenly the task was much easier. Jack and Hiccup stood up, waving plaster dust away from their faces and coughing.

Jamie was still huddling inside the cupboard under the sink, face dirty, hugging his knees to his chest. The door to the cupboard was snapped in half and hanging off its hinges. Jamie gazed out at them over the splinters.

Jack kneeled down and pulled the door the rest of the way off its hinges. He held out his arms for Jamie, who took his hands and, on wobbling legs, stepped out of the cupboard.

Hiccup looked up. “Well,” he said. “At least we can tell that the alien’s gone.”

Jack looked up at the wide open sky above them. “Funny,” he said, then turned to Jamie with a grin. “How are you holding up, kiddo?”

Jamie wiped his face with a sleeve. “Fine,” he said. “Hey, what did you mean by that before?”

“About what?”

“You said something about being scared?”

Jack glanced over at Hiccup for help, but Hiccup was preoccupied standing on the edge of the sink to look over the remains of the wall for a path. Great.

“Nothing,” he said. “Hiccup was crying.”

Jamie frowned. “Really? He didn’t look like it …”

“Only a little,” Hiccup called over his shoulder. “Jack, too. Didn’t you hear him say ‘likewise’?”

Jamie examined Jack’s face.

_Hiccup, you ass_. “Well, you have to admit, kiddo, that was pretty scary.”

Jamie chuckled. “Yeah. Yeah, it was.”

“Alright, get up here, Jack,” Hiccup said.

“What’s up?”

“I need to know where the train station is.”

“Right. In that case, local tour guide at your service.” Jack climbed up next to Hiccup and looked out over the town.

Far away, aliens moved over the houses. There were very few laser noises now. Jack suspected that might be because they were the only ones left in the city. Only them left to use the lasers on.

Well, them and the other three. But the others had gotten away cleanly. At least, that was what Jack was going to believe.

“That way,” he said, pointing. “Behind the clock tower.”

“Far behind?”

“No, not far. A block, maybe. The clock tower’s right near the edge of town.”

“Got it. Coast is clear, so let’s go.”

 

~

 

Despite Jack’s pounding heart and his certainty that every echo of their footsteps was an alien getting closer, they made it past the clock tower and to the train station without getting any closer to an alien than seeing the bulbous bodies floating over rooftops a long way away.

The door to the station was locked, so they went in through the train tracks side, It wasn’t like they were at risk of being run over by incoming trains, after all.

The inside of the station was totally empty. A train sat abandoned at the platform.

“They’re not here yet,” Jack said.

“They’ll be here soon, then,” Hiccup said. “Come on. Let’s get inside the train.”

“Why the train?” Jack asked. “I’m not arguing. You just seem very certain.”

“The station’s locked,” Hiccup said. “Trains have dining cars. I’m hungry.”

“We dropped the food when we started running,” Jamie said.

“Alright,” Jack said. “Dining car it is.”

“They’ll find us in the train, won’t they?” Jamie asked.

“Yeah,” Jack said. “Didn’t take us long to find the train, did it? It’s the first place they’ll look.”


	3. The Stillness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the final chapter! Might be radio silence here for a little while as I settle into uni, but rest assured I'm working on things.
> 
> Also I've been going back and reading all your lovely comments on everything (because that's what I do instead of sleep apparently), and thank you all so much for all the wonderful things you've said!

The empty train was significantly creepier than Jack had realised. Not quite up to hiding-in-a-bathtub-with-an-alien-overhead standards of scary, but definitely creepy. The dining car hadn’t been restocked since last time the train had been out, but thankfully for them, trains always carried just a little more food than they needed.

The food, of course, was cold – Jamie suggested they could turn on some of the kitchen devices on the train. Hiccup said he knew where the on-switches were. Jack said that he knew how to cook, so heating up something from the train’s stores couldn’t be too hard.

Then they’d all stared at the electric switch on the wall, and without another word, had opened and eaten their food cold.

Hiccup shoved the empty tins and containers aside when he’d finished. “I’m going to have a look around,” he said.

“What?” Jack asked. “Why? What for?”

“Radio,” Hiccup said. “There has to be one on the train.”

Jack opened his mouth to protest , then closed it again.

“What is it?” Hiccup asked.

Jack shoved the last of his dinner aside and grabbed Hiccup by the arm. “Be back in a moment, Jamie,” he said. “We’re only going to the next carriage.”

Jamie shrugged and Hiccup followed Jack into the next carriage.

Jack closed the door behind them, and started rifling through the food storage cabinet.

“What is it?” Hiccup asked again.

“Looking for biscuits or something. There has to be some type of dessert around here somewhere.”

Hiccup chuckled.

“What?”

“Sorry. It’s just … nevermind.”

Jack _hmphed_ and located a foil packet of gingernuts. He pulled open the packet and shoved one in his mouth. He offered the packet to Hiccup. “Bff-kt?” he asked, mouth full.

Hiccup took the other biscuit and bit off an edge. Jack finally swallowed his biscuit and said, “We shouldn’t split up.”

“Jack, I’m just going to the front of the train to get a radio. I’ll listen for a while and then come back. If I hear any of those … anything coming, I’ll come straight back. Alright?”

“Sure, and I’ll just stay here and … do nothing, I guess,” Jack said. That wasn’t actually the problem, and he knew it, but it seemed like the only objection he could muster.

“I thought you always had energy for games,” Hiccup joked.

“That’s not the point,” Jack snapped. He leaned back against the bench and pushed the foil packet of biscuits back along the bench. “It’s not looking after Jamie I mind.”

“Aw, you’re worried about me?” Hiccup asked, with an eyebrow raised and a wide grin.

“Three hours ago, we were hiding in a bathtub while a roof fell on us!” Jack said, louder than he intended to. “Forgive me if I’m a bit worried in general right now!”

Hiccup didn’t say anything for a long moment, his cheeks a little red. Jack ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry,” he said.

“No,” Hiccup said. “I should have joked.”

“It’s fine,” Jack said.

“You and Jamie should come too, then, if you want to stay together,” Hiccup offered.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jack said.

“Ask Jamie if he wants to,” Hiccup said. “He’s old enough that if he wants to know, he should know.”

“Who said anything about Jamie?” Jack said, smiling weakly, trying to be flippant. “I’m talking about me.”

“So stay here with Jamie and I’ll be back soon,” Hiccup said, with a frown. “I don’t understand what the problem is.”

“The problem,” Jack waved his hands vaguely, suddenly feeling at quite a loss. “I … never mind. I’m going back into the room. Come back quickly when you’ve found the radio.”

“No, wait,” Hiccup said, reaching for his arm. “Tell me.”

Jack glanced down at where Hiccup was holding onto his wrist. The touch was gentle – he could have broken free in a second if he wanted to – but warm. Hiccup had large hands and long fingers, wrapping all the way around Jack’s thin wrist. Hiccup let go as soon as he saw Jack look down, as if Jack’s wrist had suddenly become burning hot. To be fair to Hiccup, Jack wasn’t completely sure that wasn’t the case.

“I should go with you to the radio,” Jack said. “I should know what’s going on, otherwise we can’t keep Jamie safe, or tell Jamie what’s going on. But I don’t know if I can listen to it. Not if I don’t know Emma is alright.”

Hiccup reached over again, taking Jack’s hand and twining his fingers around Jack’s. Jack swallowed hard.

“We’re a team, remember?” Hiccup said. “You take care of Jamie, and I’ll take care of the radio.”

Jack closed his hand around Hiccup’s, and nodded. “Team,” he said. “Alright.”

Hiccup stood up and stepped closer, close enough that he could have leaned forward and kissed Jack’s forehead if he had wanted. “Team,” he repeated softly.

Jack considered his options thoroughly. He couldn’t be reading this wrong, could he? Maybe the hand holding was just to comfort a friend. But nobody stood this close to someone unless they were interested, right? And both at once?

Screw it. He could try to explain later if he was wrong. He was too scared and too stressed and there were too many aliens wandering around his home town for him to worry about making a fool of himself. He turned to face Hiccup and took Hiccup’s other hand. “We’re getting through it together,” he said firmly. “And with Jamie, and with the others when they arrive. You just take care of the radio, I’ll make sure that we have everything else.”

“Well, that’s not fair,” Hiccup said. “You should at least let me take care of getting water, too.”

“It’s not quite an invitation to drinks,” Jack said, “But sure, if you like.”

“When we get through this alive,” Hiccup said, “I’ll take you out for the whole dinner.”

Jack jumped back from Hiccup as he heard Jamie’s footsteps moving towards the door. He scrubbed his face for a moment to try and get rid of the flush, and behind him, Hiccup leaned against the bench and picked up the packet of biscuits.

Jamie opened the door. “Um. What are you two arguing about?”

“Arguing? Nothing,” Jack said. “Just, uh … discussing.”

Jamie looked decidedly suspicious. The kid wasn’t stupid, obviously. Jack rubbed his face. “Alright, we might have been arguing a bit.”

“Have a biscuit,” Hiccup said, tossing the packet over. Jamie just barely caught it, taking the last gingernut out of it.

“Thanks,” he said. “Listen, I know you don’t want me to, Jack, but can I go and listen to the radio with Hiccup?”

Jack hesitated. “Are you sure?”

Jamie nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “It’s kind of scary not to know.”

“Well, it’s all settled, then,” Jack said. “We’re all going.” He turned to Hiccup. “You seem to know the most about trains.”

“Up the front,” Hiccup said.

They started to make their way through the train together.

“Seriously, Jack, what were you arguing about?” Jamie asked.

“Jack didn’t want us to split up,” Hiccup said, before Jack could come up with a way to word it. “He thought if there was danger, we might not be able to meet up again in time to run away.”

“Oh,” Jamie said, but he still sounded sceptical.

 

~

 

The front of the train we so exposed it made Jack’s skin itch – big, wide windows on three sides of them above the control panel seemed to stretch wide, and Jack couldn’t help his eyes flicking between them, despite the fact that there was a roof above the train, and the aliens couldn’t see in anyway.

“There’s only two chairs,” Hiccup said. “Jamie, you’ll have to sit on Jack’s lap.”

“OK,” Jamie said. Jack sat down in the chair, and Jamie hopped up onto his lap, leaning forward to see the radio.

“It’s just a two-way radio,” Jack said. “It’s only for talking between the train drivers and the station attendants.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Hiccup said. “It’s still a radio. All we need to do is turn it to the right station.”

He started to fiddle with knobs and buttons, until the radio crackled, hissed, and then a voice started through the radio, loud enough to make both Jack and Jamie jump.

“Sorry,” Hiccup said, and turned the volume down.

_Evacuation for the Horsell Common area is complete. Many are still reported missing but not yet confirmed dead …_

“Turn it down a little lower,” Jack said.

Hiccup looked at him.

“Just in case.” Jack grinned, and gave Hiccup a quick grin and a wink behind Jamie’s head.

Hiccup nodded, with a quick smile back, and turned the radio down a bit further. He and Jack were forced to lean closer together in order to hear the voice clearer, shoulders touching all the way down to their elbows. Jack resisted the urge to rest his head on Hiccup’s shoulder, though only because Jamie was there and still awake. After a moment. Hiccup rested his chin on his clasped hands, and shifted so that his leg touched Jack’s, too, their knees rubbing together gently.

_…still too dangerous to send in science teams, however, we can see that alien activity has slowed and preparations are being made, as it may soon be safe to send in teams. Rescue teams are also being gathered, in case there are survivors, however, the military is currently saying it will not allow rescue teams at this time, citing the danger of forces being spread too thin to protect both rescue teams and scientists …_

Jack for a little while tried not to listen to the radio, then he felt guilty for that. It couldn’t have been any easier for Hiccup than it was for him, and he didn’t want to have to ask Hiccup to go through it again afterwards and relive it.

After a while, the sky grew dark, and Hiccup got up to get a little flashlight from a cupboard in the back of the control room, placing it  on the control panel next to him so he could use it to adjust the radio if he needed to. They didn’t talk as the radio droned on and on – interviews with military and humanitarian leaders, breaking updates if anything so much as breathed in the area. Nothing was mentioned about Merida, Rapunzel and Emma, but then, nothing was mentioned about the three of them either, so Jack tried desperately to take that as a good sign.

After a while Jamie started to lean back against Jack, then to close his eyes, and then to breathe gently. Jack and Hiccup shared a look.

“I’ll take him back to the sleeping carriage,” Jack said.

“Then we should all go,” Hiccup said, reaching to turn off the radio.

“No, just wait here a moment. I’ll take him and be back.”

“You were right before,” Hiccup said. “We should stick together.”

“You want to listen to the radio a little longer though, right?”

“No,” Hiccup said. “They’re just filling time.” He turned the radio off with a soft clunk, and held the door for Jack, whose hands were full carrying Jamie.

They walked quietly back to the carriages and laid Jamie down on one of the large seats. Jack went to sit opposite him, looking through the small gap between drawn blind and window frame, but Hiccup tapped him on the shoulder.

They walked together to the next carriage, and sat down on opposite sides of the window.

“Sorry,” Hiccup said. “I didn’t want to wake Jamie up. Do you think you’ll sleep?”

Jack shook his head. “Don’t think I could even if I wanted to,” he said.

Hiccup nodded. “Neither.”

“They should catch up with us tomorrow,” Jack said. “They went away from it to begin with, but they can’t have run very far that way without just running out of town. So they must have found somewhere to sleep along the way and they’ll be here tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Hiccup said. “That makes sense.”

“Best leave some of the food for them,” Jack said.

“I’m not sure we could eat that much between us if we tried.”

“On second thought, you’re right. Not like Merida,” Jack said, with a grin.

Hiccup grinned back. “You’re mighty bold when she’s not here to retort.”

“Have you seen us talking? I’m mighty bold when she’s in the room, too.”

“Some would call that foolish.”

“Well, I’ve never been a very sensible person. The kids rub off on me too much, I suppose.”

Hiccup glanced towards Jamie’s carriage. When they were quiet, they could just hear the sound of his breathing, deep and slow.

Jack pulled the blinds back just a little. There wasn’t much to see outside, just the train station. He glanced back at Hiccup, to find that Hiccup was staring at him, studying his face like he’d seen Hiccup studying the thing in the ground the day the aliens had landed, like he studied the diagrams he drew in his notebook, like he studied cards when they were playing Clue. Jack expected him to look away, but Hiccup just kept looking at him, holding his gaze.

Jack found that even had he anything in particular he wanted to say, it would have disappeared then and there. It was hard to keep looking into Hiccup’s eyes; the feeling was intense, and made him nervous. But at the same time, he hadn’t seen before the little flecks of grey in Hiccup’s green eyes before, and he wanted to keep looking, to find the colours within the colours.

The air between them felt heavy and thick, like he could sense every inch of it. He leaned forward and, experimentally, put his hand on Hiccup’s leg.

Hiccup put his hand over Jack’s. Jack could feel the calluses from where Hiccup held his pencil. With his free hand, Jack pulled the pencil from behind Hiccup’s ear, laying it with a small ‘clink’ on the windowsill.

Hiccup moved his hand to Jack’s cheek, Jack rested his hand on Hiccup’s shoulder and tried not to lose his balance as Hiccup drew him forward and kissed him.

After a moment, Jack had to put a knee against the seat to stay upright. Hiccup turned, shuffling in the seat so his back was against the wall and Jack climbed into his lap, bracing himself against the wall with his elbows as Hiccup’s arms snaked around his back.

Jack desperately wanted to stop thinking so much, to slip his hands up Hiccup’s shirt and let whatever was going to happen happen, but Jamie was still only in the next room, and the other three might come back, and there might be aliens mere metres above their heads, just waiting for the right moment to surprise them with lasers and death. So before he could get too lost, he pulled back, reluctantly, dragging his hands down Hiccup’s chest and sat back on Hiccup’s legs.

Hiccup’s hands started to move, then stopped.

“You look disappointed,” Hiccup said. “Was I too …?”

“No,” Jack interrupted. “No, you were …” He let out a breath, running his hand through his hair. “Hoooo. You were good. I just …” he glanced towards Jamie. “Bad timing,” he finished.

Hiccup sighed, and ran his thumbs regretfully over the nubs of Jack’s spine underneath his jacket. “I know,” he said. “It’s not exactly the time or the place, is it?”

Jack turned around and sat down between Hiccup’s legs, leaning back against his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“No,” Hiccup said. “I get it. Can I still hold your hand, though?”

Jack turned his hand over on his lap, and Hiccup took it, twining their fingers tight. He bent down and placed a slow kiss on the top of Jack’s head. “I can’t wait till life goes back to normal,” he said.

“Agreed,” Jack said.

 

~

 

Sometime partway through the night, when it was far too dark for them to see the door, Jack sleepily went to get up. Hiccup stirred and grumbled, already more than half asleep himself.

“Hm? Jack?”

“Going to check on Jamie,” Jack said.

Hiccup sighed and let go of him. “Fine. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Night.” Jack pressed his lips gently to Hiccup’s as he left the room.

He stumbled his way into Jamie’s carriage as quietly as he could, trying not to wake the boy up.

Jamie didn’t stir. Jack wondered if he would have woken up if Jack had come in and fallen flat on his face. Still, he closed the door quietly and lay down on the unoccupied seat, pulling over one of the cushions for his head.

He had thought, if he determined that Hiccup was interested in him, too, that it would have been a relief. Instead, one little goodnight kiss had all but ensured that Jack was wide awake, despite having been close to sleep only half a minute before. He didn’t regret it, of course, not in the slightest. But he looked at the little bit of electric light showing around the blinds and hoped he’d get to sleep soon, if only because it meant he’d stop worrying about Emma for a while.

 

~

 

In the morning he was woken bright and early by the light through the blinds, Jamie stirring and groaning on the other couch, and Merida banging merrily on the carriage door.

“Rise and shine, sunshine!” she called.

Jack shoved open the carriage door and glared at her through eyes still trying to close and go back to sleep. “Merida, what on this green Earth do you think you’re doing?”

“Thought you lot’d still be asleep, so we thought we’d surprise you!”

“Can’t you be a bit more quiet?” Jack asked, rubbing his eyes and coming out into the corridor. Hiccup was already out of the carriage, looking just as disgruntled as Jack felt. “We can’t attract any att – whff!”

Emma had jumped at him and wrapped her arms around him. Jack immediately forgot the rest of the sentence and kneeled down to hold Emma close.

“Glad you’re safe, kiddo,” he said.

“You too, Jack.”

Merida grinned, and Rapunzel beamed at them. “Attract attention?” Merida asked. “From what?”

“Um,” Jack said. “Aliens? Big things, tentacles. Nearly killed us a while back there?”

“Well, yeah,” Rapunzel said. “But after that one that chased after you … we haven’t seen any others.”

“What?” Hiccup asked. “We saw three or four on our way here. A long way away, but we saw them.”

“That’s the thing,” Merida said. “Wait a minute. Got any food here? Let’s have a bit of grub while we talk.”

“This way,” Hiccup said.

“Jack …” Emma said.

Jack gave her a quick squeeze and let her go. “Sorry, Em,” he said. “I might have been just a tad worried.”

“I was worried, too,” Emma said, taking his hand as he walked towards the dining car. “In fact, I think I had to have been more worried than you.”

She said it so primly that Jack had to laugh. “Oh? And why’s that?”

“Well, you were the one the big alien chased after!” Emma said. “You were in more danger than me!”

“No kidding,” Jack said. “I had to hide in a bathtub!”

Emma giggled. “Bathtub?”

“Yeah!” Jamie said, from Emma’s other side. “And they shoved me in a cupboard!”

“I’ve changed my mind,” Merida said. “You’re telling your story first.”

 

~

 

By the time they’d finished recounting the story – with many dramatic gestures from Jack, including one that nearly tipped him off the dining car chair – they were all done with breakfast. Jack and Emma cleared the tins out and threw them away, then Merida, Rapunzel and Emma started to tell the story of what had happened to them.

“So, we were running from this huge alien – they’ve taken over the town,  you know – and suddenly there’s a bright red flash, and Jack threw Emma at Rapunzel,” Merida started.

“I did not throw!” Jack protested. “Shoved, at best!”

“Whatever.”

“So we start running off down this side path,” Rapunzel continued, leaning forward. “We must have sprinted halfway across the town before Merida finally managed to stop us.”

“You sprinted halfway across town,” Merida said, arms folded, blowing her fringe out of her face. “Em and I were yelling at you the whole way that the alien wasn’t behind us.”

“Oh, hush,” Rapunzel said. “You could have stopped me if you really wanted to.”

“Well, either way, when we finally stopped, we were nearly to the edge of town,” Emma said. “And there wasn’t a single alien nearby.”

“Saw a couple over the houses,” Merida said, “But only ever near the Common, nowhere in the town. Em wanted to go after you right away, of course.” Merida nudged Emma, who nudged back. “But Punz was too scared.”

“Well, I just thought it might be better if we didn’t go walking straight into a laser beam,” Rapunzel said, fiddling with a strand of her hair.

“Oh, and leave us to die, I suppose,” Jack said, with an arched eyebrow. “Thanks, Punzie.”

“It wasn’t like that!” Rapunzel cried, then scowled. “You’re horrible, Jack.”

Jack gave her a wide grin, while Hiccup shook his head.

“Well, the streets where we lost you were on our way to the train station,” Emma said. “So I said we should look for the bags, because we’d need food, and maybe we could find Merida’s games, for when we got here.”

“Good head on her shoulders, your sister,” Merida said to Jack. “We found one bag of food and the games bag, but that was all.”

“Sorry,” Rapunzel said. “We ate all the food on the way.”

“We did pretty well for ourselves out of the dining car,” Hiccup said. “Definitely worth the technical burglary.”

“Anyway, after that, we managed to get about halfway across the town again before it got dark,” Rapunzel said. “We slept in the old Town Hall … or we tried to.”

Emma wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think we were the only ones to try it,” she said. “But there’s no bathroom there.”

“We had to move somewhere else,” Rapunzel said. “It was just …”

“Rank,” Merida said, matter-of-factly.

“So there we were, in the dark of night, in an alien-infested city, walking through the streets.”

“These two were clinging to my hands like babes,” Merida said. “I still can’t feel some of my fingers.”

“You were clinging just as hard,” Emma muttered, making Jack cover his mouth at the image of Merida scared.

“We could hear the footsteps in the distance,” Rapunzel said, raising her hands and shoulders, like she was imitating someone creeping along. “It was too dark to see the doors on most of the houses. We –”

“It was actually quite light. Full moon,” Merida said behind her hand to Hiccup and Jack.

“Sssh, you’re ruining the story!” Rapunzel said. “Anyway, we’re walking down the street, trying not to make a sound, all the while _thump, thump, thump_ in the distance comes the footsteps of the aliens as they slowly make their rounds of the city …”

“We found an old house.” Emma picked up the story, lifting her arms to mimic Rapunzel’s motion. “Half caved in by the lasers, but the only one left unlocked. We camped out in the shell of the building, one whole half of the room open to the sky and anything that might find us in there.”

“We took turns to keep watch,” Rapunzel said, “thinking it would keep us safe. In the morning, we woke early and fled the building, eager to be reunited with our lost friends, who we prayed had gotten away as safely as we had!”

“We ran to the train station,” Emma shouted suddenly, slamming her hands down on the table and making everyone jump. “Hoping we might arrive in time, never imagining the horrors of bathtubs and cupboards they had faced!”

Jack chuckled.

“Quite the storytellers, you two,” Hiccup said.

“Hey,” Jamie said. “Do you think we could play a game of cards?”

“Sure!” Merida said. “Em, where are the cards?”

“Still by Hiccup’s door,” Emma said. “I’ll go get them.”

“I’ll be back soon,” Hiccup said, and stood up.

“What? Where are you going? Don’t leave now, when we’re about to start playing!”

“Radio,” Jack explained.

“I’ll be back when you start playing Clue,” Hiccup said.

“I still need to beat you at Brag,” Jack said.

“Deal,” Hiccup said, and left.

Merida glanced between Hiccup and Jack for a moment, one raised eyebrow, but then Emma came back into the room and she said nothing. Rapunzel gave Jack a significant look, but Jack pretended not to notice.

Let the mocking come later. Let him just play games with his sister for now.

 

~

 

For the whole day, they stayed in the carriage. Hiccup listened to the radio periodically, but always came back shaking his head. Nothing new, just the same old updates again and again.

The next morning it was the same. By afternoon, Hiccup paused them all and listened.

“What?” Merida asked.

Hiccup shook his head.

Complete silence followed for a few moments, before Hiccup said, “Everything is quiet.”

“Well, yeah,” Merida said. “Hic, we’re living in a ghost town.”

“No, I mean, _everything_ is quiet,” Hiccup said. “No footsteps. No lasers. The red weed should have reached us by now, but I checked out the window – it hasn’t. So … what’s going on?”

“Let’s get to the roof of the train station and check,” Merida said.

“Not the roof,” Rapunzel said. “Won’t that be too … obvious?”

“We can keep a lookout on the way up,” Hiccup said. “If there are any around, we’ll just climb back down.”

“We should all go,” Jack said.

“What about Emma and Jack?” Merida asked.

“Who wants to stay behind with them?” Jack asked pointedly.

Merida and Rapunzel glanced at each other.

“Together might be better,” Rapunzel said, sheepishly. “Let’s try not to get separated again.”

“Alright,” Merida said. “Everyone, then. Let’s go up.”

 

~

 

Merida and Hiccup made the climb to the roof, while the four others kept lookout on the ground.

Without any signs of the aliens, the four of them were much bolder with their communication, calling back and forth from the street corners and from the top of the roof.

Once Merida and Jack were up at the top of the train station, the other four gathered at the bottom to wait for them.

“I don’t get it,” Hiccup said.

“Where are they?” Merida asked.

They climbed back down. Frowning, Hiccup pushed past the others and went to the front of the train.

He turned on the radio and listened to the voice for a moment while the others gathered in the doorway.

“Same as always,” he said. “They haven’t sent anybody in yet. Come on. Let’s go and find out what happened.”

They walked together through the streets. It would have been just like a mid-afternoon stroll, except for the fact that there was nobody else in the city.

Emma and Jamie gasped first as they turned the corner – they were walking a little way ahead, still sharing stories from their respective adventures.

The other four rushed forward to them, only to realise that they weren’t in any danger.

They couldn’t have been.

The alien was clearly dead.

Hiccup was the first to step forward and get near it. The huge, black thing had fallen and crushed a house nearby, its tentacle-legs coiling around the streets. The body, however, was split open, and something had tried to crawl out, something tiny by comparison to the black shapes they had seen for days, three-legged like its shell, and quite dead. It was nearly pitiful, a small, shrivelled thing crawling away from its control panel.

“The black bodies weren’t the creatures,” Jamie said. “It was … it was like a car for them. They were just driving them around.”

Hiccup poked the grey thing with his toe, turning its limp head upwards to face them. “I don’t understand,” he said.

He bent a little closer.

“Don’t touch it!” Merida warned.

“I’m not that dense,” Hiccup called back, distracted. From an inner pocket, he pulled out his little battered notebook, and the pencil from behind his ear, and began to scratch away.

Jack moved a little closer, to get a better look at the alien inside the machine, putting his arm up against his nose to staunch the smell. “I think it’s starting to rot,” he said.

“I can smell it from here,” Merida said distastefully. Rapunzel nodded.

“Some kind of sickness?” Hiccup said quietly.

“Hm?” Jack asked, but he didn’t get any response.

After a while, Hiccup stood up, and closed the notebook. “Let’s go back to the train and get the games,” he said, “Then let’s go back to your house, Merida. I think it’s safe now.”

“You think they’re all dead?” Emma asked.

Hiccup nodded. “I think they all caught something. I think they all got sick from something in the air or the water, or something.”

“Serves them right,” Jamie said, but there was no feeling behind it.

“Come on,” Rapunzel said. “Let’s go back to Merida’s house.”

 

~

 

Merida’s house was nearly entirely overrun with red weed when they got there, and there were several near-frantic messages on the phone from Jack and Emma’s parents. After an hour-long conversation with them, Jack offered to pay some of Merida’s phone bill, but she and Rapunzel wouldn’t hear of it.

Jack’s house was nearly covered in the weeds as well, and the six of them pitched in over the few days until the scientists arrived to clear things up.

Upon examination of the corpses, the common cold was found to be the culprit. Nobody knew quite how to take this, but over the days it seemed to matter less and less as the importance of getting the town back on its feet increased. Great teams of people cleared out the red weed, and builders came in from across the country to help rebuild houses.

One evening, while the others were playing Hide and Seek with Emma and Jamie (it being Emma’s last day staying, and Jamie having become quite a fixture at the Dunbroch/Corona household), and Hiccup and Jack having been found and therefore being ‘out’, Jack asked “So … when are you going back?”

Hiccup shrugged. “Well,” he said. “Looks like there’s some jobs open here. A lot of people left. Actually, I was hoping Merida might help me throw a ‘congratulations on being employed” party.”

“You got a job here?”

“Yes, at the local newspaper. Better than the last one I had, too. I got the letter this morning.”

Jack tried not to react too enthusiastically. “So … you’ll be staying here for a while, then?”

“Looks like.”

“You’re going to have fun living with Merida.”

“Joy. Don’t remind me.”

“You know, if you need a break, you’re always welcome at my house. Emma’s going home soon, so you can use the spare bed.”

“I’ll let you know,” Hiccup said.

He put his hand over Jack’s in the grass, and they watched as Emma found Merida hiding in a tree, and Merida refused to be ‘out’ until Emma could climb up and catch her.

Down near the horizon, the sun began to set.


End file.
